Trade groups argue right to challenge Obama appointments

President Barack Obama’s appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were “invalid” and “threaten to harm” millions of employers and workers, trade groups said in a court filing after the U.S. sought to have their challenge dismissed.

The trade groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation and the National Federation of Independent Business, last year sued to block a rule mandating that companies notify workers of their rights to form a union.

After suing, some of the trade groups also challenged Obama’s Jan. 4 appointment of three members to the NLRB, without Senate confirmation, during a congressional break. The U.S. has asked a federal judge in Washington to reject the challenge, arguing that the trade groups lack authority and the dispute isn’t ready for adjudication.

“Millions of employers are faced with immediate confusion and uncertainty as to their notice posting obligations due to the widely publicized questions regarding the constitutional legitimacy of the current board,” the trade groups said in today’s filing.

The groups urged U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to rule on the legality of the appointments to avoid “widespread confusion” and forestall challenges to the NLRB’s authority in multiple cases.

The case is National Association of Manufacturers v. National Labor Relations Board, 11-cv-01629, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

--Editors: Andrew Dunn, Stephen Farr

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Schoenberg in Washington at tschoenbergbloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhythabloomberg.net.